Tuesday, 26 February 2013

The Blackwold Road, Part Two.

Combat favours the adventurers as first Grognomma then one of the ladz succumbs to Saul and Fingers. Toin is managing to stay alive, just, but things look very dangerous for the Dwarf and Lazarus too.

The Orcs find their formation was over-cautious about the Ihmissusi and over-confident regarding the Humiez. While one of the ladz gets a charge in on Fingers they are unable to respond swiftly to the loss of Grognomma leaving Urklasch under threat.

Lazurus breaks off from supporting the Dwarf to unleash another Fire Ball which kills another of the ladz, but could be a mistake. Saul and Urklasch duel in the highlight of the game, there is a real sense of excitement as the two toughest hombres on the field of battle hew mightily at each other. In the end as the dice settle, Urklasch is slain while Saul staggers on with one wound.

Things were looking pretty grim for the Orcs and we decided a morale check was in order. The three survivors take to their heels as a result and with that the game ends.

In a fit of generosity I head for the hills with the Ihmissusi too, but he'll be back for more now he has the taste of Dwarf...

So, victory to the adventurers. They were luckier than the Orcs when it came to rolling up stat lines and the extra wounds made a big difference as Saul and Toin took some serious damage yet remained in play. They can now journey deeper into the heart of the Blackwold in search of fame and fortune, tracked all the time by the fearsome Ihmissusi.

While I like a good pun as much as the next oldhammerer, I limit the use of word-play to those I really like. Another source of names I like is the 'tenuous link'. Here goes: Amongst others, Tolkien inspired Warhammer and was himself inspired by European folklore, including Finnish Saga-myths, an Ihmissusi is a kind of Finnish Werewolf from the old tales.

The word has a susurrant quality that has made it stick in my mind. I like the idea of giving what is essentially just a werewolf a more distinct personality by enhancing it's individuality with an odd name. I think I learned the trick from the Uderfryktes in the Elder Scrolls computer games, they were basically just Trolls, but I remember each Uderfrykte more vividly than any Troll encounter because of a few simple writer's tricks.

Starting at the beginning with your blog and already loving it. This battle report is a real highlight - a fantastic example/inspiration as to how WFB3 (or 4 IMO) can be used to play a style of game many players would feel equates more to a D&D type context. So simple yet so atmospheric!

I am a born-again responsible gamer. My conquest of the Etherweb will be slow, but inevitable.

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This Blog will be used to revolutionise wargaming, succeeding where others have failed. Oh yes it will! I will teach you all the error of your ways and subvert you to my cause. I am on a crusade to bring back the GamesMaster to all tabletop battles. On the way, I will track my wargaming progress project by project and as a whole, bringing projects to completion and moving on to new challenges. I have moved away from the hollow, charmless gaming that has become a kind of standard thanks to our own complacency and develop a gaming style that encompasses the gaming and role-play values of the 80s and early 90s (my youth) whilst going beyond what that era achieved into exhilarating new realms of fun. I will therefore use the Blog to record my battle and keep on the right course with my overall philosophy in the same way as I fortify my discipline with individual projects. I will use the blogging platform to challenge my painting, modelling and photography skills, though I will not allow the pursuit of high standards to interfere with the deadlines I set myself so expect a mixture of different quality paint jobs, photos et cetera. The aspiration to perfection is always a long term goal, so get stuff done in the mean time. The blog will come in handy for insurance purposes, tremble in fear claims negotiators. I promise not to use the Blog as a vacuous diary, sharing a life which though personally gratifying is possibly outwardly dull. Though I am pretty neat. I will utilise gentle humour often, as is my way, without descending into constant joke-telling. I will not shy away from subtle adult humour and occasional vulgarity (this will not include serious swear words however) though only rarely and in always in context. This is because I like my wargaming to have a moral awareness of it’s real life counterpart (war) in amongst all the fun times. I will not post whilst drunk. I will never review movies, books or anything else for that matter though I may recommend stuff for gaming inspiration purposes and talk about a fun time I had doing something that linked to my gaming activities. I will strive to avoid discussing the world in absolute terms, accepting rather that reality is in the eye of the beholder and that maturity acknowledges variety. I want the hobby to be inclusive and will avoid misogynistic blogger staples such as using pictures of ladies breasts to liven up mediocre posts. I will ask you now once, for the first and last time, to comment and follow if you feel able as these signs of recognition are greatly appreciated. I will never again seek any acclamation for what I’m doing. As a final point, I will make it clear that I thinkGamers, us, ourselves, are responsible for the state of wargaming, NOT Games Workshop, Wizards of the Coast et cetera who despite being in the grasp of vile corporate vampires actually carry out, diligently and with dignity, a worthy and thankless task. If anything goes downhill people are far too quick to blame the governing body, when they should be taking personal responsibility first and foremost. Wargamers of the world, the time for excuses is past, it is time to have incredible fun!